Reyna and Stacy co-hosts of KickinNutrition.TV cookin' up a Sizzlin' Healthy Recipe!

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - September 16, 2015) - The Mario Batali Foundation has awarded a grant to Ingredients for Education (IFE), a charity organization and multimedia education content provider that distributes KickinNutrition.TV (KNTV), an online platform for food and health education to schools and afterschools.

KickinNutrition.TV is Ingredients for Education's marquee online program that teaches students about healthy eating, cooking, nutrition and fitness through original videos, stories and games. The Mario Batali Foundation (MBF) provides support for the implementation of KickinNutrition.TV at no cost to select New York City public and charter Title 1 schools in the 2015 - 2016 school year. MBF Founder, Mario Batali will be featured in a video for KNTV and will create a new "kid-friendly" recipe that will be shared on KNTV's "Shared Kitchen" recipe exchange where students share photos, videos and recipes in a safe social media environment within the classroom.

"All children have the right to live a healthy life, but too often there are circumstances out of their control that inhibit this right," said Mario. "KickinNutrition has developed programs that will educate low-income youths and families on how to prepare and enjoy healthy meals using affordable and available resources. These goals align with MBF's efforts to feed, protect, educate and empower children, encouraging them to dream big while providing youth with the necessary tools to become an active force for change in today's world."

KNTV's research-based curriculum and content was developed by a former Sesame Street International Executive Producer, Natasha Lance Rogoff in collaboration with nutrition and education experts from Boston University, Harvard School of Public Health, Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and MIT digital education experts.

"Recent studies have shown that in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, only 39 percent of public elementary schools have nutrition education programs," said Natasha Lance Rogoff, Executive Producer and Founder of Ingredients for Education. "But now, thanks to the Mario Batali Foundation, our organization will be able to expand our mission of providing a fresh dish of nutrition education and the tools to eat healthy to more children and their families. We believe that every individual deserves access to food education and to healthy food."

The KNTV online program fills the gap in engaging technology-based health-nutrition by providing a 21st century solution to childhood obesity prevention. The curriculum was created for students in grades 4 to 8 and meets "digital natives" on their own terms, with peer-taught lesson videos, comedy, cooking demonstrations, educational games, recipes, teacher-moderated classroom activities and an online badge system where students are rewarded for engagement as they move from Dishwasher to Top Chef. The interactive platform provides affordable and accessible nutrition education and enables student engagement, as well as inspiring family participation at home.

Additional support for program distribution has generously been provided to Ingredients for Education by The Heckscher Foundation for Children, Thomas L. Kempner and pro-bono services have been provided by Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Harvard Business School Board Fellows and Ropes and Grey.

About The Mario Batali Foundation

Long before he was a household name, Mario Batali was a philanthropist. Whether donating his time, services or dollars, Mario has been actively involved in the charities close to his heart for many years to raise awareness and support for children's disease research, literacy, hunger relief and nutrition education. Prompted by these philanthropic efforts, in 2008, Mario launched the Mario Batali Foundation. The MBF strives to ensure that all children are well read, well fed and well cared for. To learn more about the Mario Batali Foundation, visit mariobatalifoundation.org

About Ingredients for Education

Ingredients for Education (IFE), is a charity organization serving communities by providing a technology platform that fosters lifelong healthy habits, leadership and self-efficacy. Through the distribution of its marquee program "KickinNutrition.TV" to Title 1 schools, at no cost, IFE provides children and their families with the tools, inspiration and education to make healthier eating and lifestyle choices. With support from philanthropic foundations, KNTV's program has been adopted by schools in New York, Massachusetts and Florida, providing nutrition education to 18,000 students in underserved communities where children are at higher risk for childhood obesity. The interactive platform enables student engagement as well as family participation at home and is available for the 2015 Back to School season and beyond.

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